The annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare is nine-week residency program at high schools throughout western Massachusetts and parts of neighboring New York State. Shakespeare & Company directors at each school lead nearly 500 students through a language-based exploration of a Shakespeare play, culminating in a full-scale production performed on Shakespeare & Company’s Tina Packer Playhouse for the public.

The Fall Festival of Shakespeare is a crown jewel of our performance season. When these high-energy teenagers set loose the power of Shakespeare’s language in front of packed houses, the thrill is contagious.

The 25th Annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare is made possible in part by grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, The Massachusetts Cultural Council, Price Chopper’s Golub Foundation, The Robert C. and Tina Sohn Foundation, Berkshire Bank, and the generous support of the participating high schools, and a coalition of individuals, families, and businesses.

Upcoming Events

Shakespeare & Young Company’s spring 2015 class of Young Company actors take the Packer Playhouse by storm with two days of electrifying and riveting Shakespeare. These 16-to-20-year-old actors perform with a fierce and fiery temperament, exploring their passion for friendship, love, justice, and hope. After all, no writer has captured the powerful emotions of adolescence better than Shakespeare.

Shakespeare & Young Company’s spring 2015 class of Young Company actors take the Packer Playhouse by storm with two days of electrifying and riveting Shakespeare. These 16-to-20-year-old actors perform with a fierce and fiery temperament, exploring their passion for friendship, love, justice, and hope. After all, no writer has captured the powerful emotions of adolescence better than Shakespeare.

The How and the Why by Sarah Treem Directed by by Nicole Ricciardi May 22 – July 26 Bernstein Theater Two brilliant female scientists meet on the eve of a national conference and find themselves clashing over their views on men and women, love and conflict, genes and destiny. From the writer of House of Cards and In Treatment, this smart-witted, sharp new comedy will have audiences questioning their ideas about sex. Buy Tickets Buy a Subscription

The How and the Why by Sarah Treem Directed by by Nicole Ricciardi May 22 – July 26 Bernstein Theater Two brilliant female scientists meet on the eve of a national conference and find themselves clashing over their views on men and women, love and conflict, genes and destiny. From the writer of House of Cards and In Treatment, this smart-witted, sharp new comedy will have audiences questioning their ideas about sex. Buy Tickets Buy a Subscription

The How and the Why by Sarah Treem Directed by by Nicole Ricciardi May 22 – July 26 Bernstein Theater Two brilliant female scientists meet on the eve of a national conference and find themselves clashing over their views on men and women, love and conflict, genes and destiny. From the writer of House of Cards and In Treatment, this smart-witted, sharp new comedy will have audiences questioning their ideas about sex. Buy Tickets Buy a Subscription